Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Utah Tech University Athletics

Baseball Celebration
Julie Buchanan Photography

Baseball John Potter, Media Relations Assistant

Late game heroics lead to sweep of GCU

Storm close out regular season on four-game winning streak

Box Score

PHOENIX – Down by two for most of the game, the Dixie State offense came alive in the final three innings in support of Austin Christiansen (Las Vegas, NV/Legacy (NV)) to give the Storm a 5-2 win over Grand Canyon in non-conference action at Brazell Stadium.
 
The win secured a three-game series sweep for the Red Storm, their fourth consecutive triumph to end the regular season schedule. Dixie State sits at 32-15 and in solid position to make its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division II West Regionals.
 
Christiansen spotted the host Lopes to a 2-0 lead after four innings while the Storm offense mustered only three hits off GCU starter Coley Bruns in the same time. He allowed one more hit over his next three innings. His line of two runs on five hits over seven complete innings (W, 8-2) kept DSU within striking distance.
 
Bruns allowed Dixie State to load the bases with a pair of walks and a hit batter in the visiting half of the seventh. Kris Kaplan (Las Vegas, NV/Cimarron Memorial) brought home the opening run with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Mitch Manning (Kaysville, UT/Davis). Yuto Kata (Chiba, Japan/Juan Diego (Utah)) later plated a run with an RBI groundout to tie the game at 2-2.
 
In the next inning, Dixie State took the lead and never looked back. Kevin Kline (Las Vegas, NV/Rancho) began the frame with a lead off double. Two batters later, Manning pulled a single through the right side pushing Kline across with the go-ahead run. DSU would add a pair of insurance runs in the ninth on a Colton Yack (South Jordan, UT/Bingham) RBI sacrifice fly and a Kline single to left field.
 
Kort Christoffersen (Ogden, UT/Weber) allowed one hit in a scoreless eighth inning and Josh Mooney (American Fork, UT/American Fork) scattered two hits, but induced a ground ball double play with the GCU tying run at the plate to end the game. Mooney earned his 10th save of the year to become the single-season Dixie State leader in saves (Zapata, Morlock).
 
Kline and Kata each had two hits for Dixie State. Both teams had eight hits for the game. GCUs Kyle Detwiler took the loss in relief.
 
The Red Storm now await the NCAA Division II National Baseball Tournament Selection Show on May 12 to see not only if they will make the West Regional, six-team field, but to see if St. George may host the event. Further details will be available on DixieAthletics.com as the Selection Show date approaches.
Print Friendly Version